Council Tax and Bailiffs ref only - NO POSTS ALLOWED

[tomtubby]

muffinblack

 

 

Can you start a new thread for this question....and do so in the main bailif section NOT this sticky section. I can then respond.

[kia]

should i do this too tom ? xxkia

[casbah]

Kai

 

I am a bit worried about yours

 

As they have gained entry I am wondering if they have,technically, earnt their money, up to a point.

 

Have you ever filled a rebate form?

Did you receive a direct debit mandate with you council tax bill? I am wondering if using the bank details you can set up a STANDING ORDER.

 

Any money you pay the bailliffs will go towards their costs and I fear that as they have done some work you do actually owe them something, but I wonder if you can still pay the council direct.

I fear the bailiff will still give you grief but I wonder if you can S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) them for a break down of their charges, then dispute any that are for things they haven't done.

 

I would contact the council and say you want to pay them direct, they'll say no but if you pay online, print off your reciept and keep it safe, if the council say you can't then persevere, I would contact my borough councillor and let them know what you want to do highlight that as you can't pay you do not see the sense in incurring more costs by going through the bailiffs.

I think you are in a sticky mess but remember you are a CAN'T pay not a WON't pay and tell the councillor this

 

Good luck and keep us posted

Cas

ps if you go back to the beginning of this thread and read through, there are a list of charges bailiffs can charge, check these out.

Kia did you do the things listed?

 

cas

[kia]

right ive sent off for claim form tried to do online but ive not got all the info with me so ill have to wait till im home so if its there when i get back cos sent for it last week then ill fill in straight away and send off. The S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) ill do when im back too ive got the postal order ready so ill get that off tomorrow too i paid them online like i was advised to but as yet ive not sent off the letter again get that done tomorrow too bit awkward here not my house and so on and like u said ill just say was waiting till you recieved the payment cos even i know its not immediate as for phoning my councillor useless didnt wanna know cos the baliffs were already involved not intersested whilst he did sypmthathise coouldnt offer any help as such so no joy there so what now cant help feeling i should have just paid the baliffs like tom said then i wouldnt be in this position now cos now im really worried cos surely the benefit form wll take ages to sort wont it ? in meantime im up s..t creak without a paddle :confused:xxkia

[muffinblack]

tom tubby I've done this

[casbah]

Kia

The whole point of the rebate was to give you time to sort it out.

I am certain that if you can pay off the outstanding balance then the only thing you would have owed the bailiffs was their fees. But I fear you ahve left it too late.

I think, maybe, you should go back to page 1 and copy the letter by zooman and adjust it.

but for this years make it priority to deal with it.

[kia]

yep well i will apply for it cos i know ill get it just find out i am entitled to it we paid 175 off the 600 pound debt to the baliffs and the next payment has gone to direct to the council like i was told have i done this wrong now then ?xxkia

[casbah]

Hmm -- I'm a bit worried now -- so far I'm paying in excess of this year's instalments to cover last year's debt, and I've written to the council and to the bailiffs to explain that that's what I'm doing. I didn't have sufficient readies when the Bailiff called, and he wouldn't accept my £50, so I didn't have much choice to pay the council direct. Surely if this year's account can be shown to be x amount of pounds in credit (above and beyond the amount of the required instalments for 2008-9) then all will be well?

It has been my experienc ethat the council will credit the arrears account then the current year, hence the quickness of them going to court. My council acts very fast and you can expect to be in court by july for the current year.

[kia]

i just looked at letter i already let them in so im not sure this still applies to me as im past this stage now will we have to make a payment to the baliffs too then cos not sure how well be able to do this we struggled making that payment xxkia

[kia]

im more worried about last years one to be honest cos i think im due a rebate too for previous years ive got a student in the house and shes been on course for two years now so i think ill be due back for them years too as well as this years one but it wont help me know will it how long will it take to get back rebate then and does this go in with the form or should i phone about that ?xxkia

[casbah]

yep well i will apply for it cos i know ill get it just find out i am entitled to it we paid 175 off the 600 pound debt to the baliffs and the next payment has gone to direct to the council like i was told have i done this wrong now then ?xxkia

Phew!!! finally we are getting there.

 

KIA the reason I want you to send an sar is to slow the bailiffs down, now whilst they are busy doing your sar you have to show the council that you are trying to pay and you want to pay. The bailiffs are treating you as a won't payer.

Now as I say while the bailiffs are busy I would write to the council, enclose a copy of the walking possesion order and tell the council that as this is what the bailiffs left you and you can not understand it, you want help and guidance from the council. Now because it is not written clearly then how can you possibly know what you have agreed to?

Don't forget the council and bailiffs are not the last stop, but it will take a very brave person to go on, I am going on, they owe me a shed load of money, almost half this years liability, and I want it back

Make the sar priority, it will stall their actions.

 

cas

[casbah]

im more worried about last years one to be honest cos i think im due a rebate too for previous years ive got a student in the house and shes been on course for two years now so i think ill be due back for them years too as well as this years one but it wont help me know will it how long will it take to get back rebate then and does this go in with the form or should i phone about that ?xxkia

 

 

Ok the rebate, IF you are entitled to it I fear you won't be able to get it backdated. Remember you should have asked back then, not very fair I know, but thats the way things are in this country. Also because you get WFTC you may not be entitled again not very fair.

Now the trick is to convince the council you are a CAN'T payer.

[Gezza79]

Hi all, the council have sent my outstanding tax for nov, dec and jan just gone to equita bailiffs, now i did agree over the phone to pay the bill (to the bailiffs) by the 22nd march, but didn't get the whole thing paid in time.

 

Today they have sent me a 'removal notice', received today, dated the 4th, stating they have been unable to contact me (funny as they have never had a problem contating me before!), and that a bailiff would be calling at my house over the next two weeks, and that if i would like to pay the outstanding debt before this happens to contact their offices. Guess what bailiffs came round on the same day i received the removal notice, i'm more than willing to pay the outstanding amount but not the additional £150.00 for the visit.

 

If i pay the council tax bill online (i tried to phone the council but they say they won't take payments for last year) am i right in saying that they can't emforce the fees?

[BRBOY]

Gezza79. I can't believe the Council didn't accept your payment online. What usually happens is they accept your payment for the full balance (minus bailiff costs) and then advise the bailiffs that you have paid in full and that they can proceed for their own costs only, so whichever way you do it, it is unlikely that you will avoid the bailiff costs. My advice would be to pay in full to the Council (they can't stop you paying online or over the counter), and inform the bailiffs that you have do this. They will then check witht he Council. I would then tell the bailiff that you have a serious issue with the costs they have levied, and ask for the bailiff Managers name so you can write to him, and in the meantime, ask for all recovery action to be supressed. This, at least will buy you some time, and if you make enough of a fuss, they may reduce the costs. When all of this is done, set up a Direct Debit for the new year to avoid this mess again.

[casbah]

Also you could use the magician, back on page 1 or 2 but its a brave person that does, I agree with BRBOY question the fees, and with regards to the direct debit, this way the council can take whatever amount they want, mine has hit me for over 300 quid for one months payment, and I have a sneaky suspicion that if you have other years outstanding they take more to cover these years, thats just my opinion, but a standing order means you control of how much is taken, also make sure you put the right details in..........their bank sort code but YOUR council tax account number.

cas

[casbah]

KIa

Any update?

are you doing ok?

 

cas

[kia]

sorry love i been offline for a day im back home now and my net wasnt working it is now ill get that sar off first thing i think they do back date it but dont quote me on that im gonna try for it anyhow cant hurt should i tell them to take off the net payment off last years bill or what?xxkia

[casbah]

i can only tell you what my council did for me and that was yes they allocated money where i wanted it to go. I know this is energy zapping but i believe its worthwhile, its not as though the money is going where it should its just going to the bailiffs, and they having a good time on us

cas

[kia]

just out of interest the letter from the baliffs isnt a working possession order its a notice of seizure of goods and inventory is this the same thing or what?xxkia

[kia]

right letters done shall be posted today recorded i take it hopefully ive done enough to stall them eh xxkia

[kia]

right ive just phoned up and the woman says im not entitled to reduction but im not taking this as gospel ill still send in the form when it eventuallu arrives think its coming from africa might be quicker if i go pick one up mighten it she said cos there two adults in the house then we wont get it hope this isnt the case xxkia

[Guest Molly1965]

Hi

 

Back in November 2007 I had a visit from Phoenix Services in respect of outstanding Council Tax. I stupidly let the Bailiff into the house, but came to a repayment agreement of £100 a month and signed a walking agreement listing only my computer, books and microwave (there were extenuating circumstances and the guy was very understanding).

 

I paid one repayment to the guy there and then, followed by a regular monthly cheque for Dec and Jan. As I was going away in March I made the February cheque payable for £200, posted it and rang Phoenix to let them know that the cheque was for 2 months and not an extra high payment just for Feb.

 

Last week, whilst I was at work, the Bailiffs arrived in force - van and all. The main man came into the house and proceeded to inform my husband that I was in arrears with my payments (April's payment was not yet due) and that unless he paid them £1400 on the spot they were going to remove everything from the house - all furniture, including beds and sofas, children's toys, the lot.

 

My husband immediately telephoned me and I spoke to the bailiff myself - he just talked over me, said that the walking agreement that I had signed meant nothing, that my £200 cheque had not been recieved and that I basically didn't have a leg to stand on. He then handed back the phone to my husband and proceeded to get on the phone to his 'mates'.

 

A visiting friend very kindly paid the whole amount on his credit card, but wants the money back by next weekend - to solve this has taken our entire monthly salary, leaving us with literally nothing to live on, except for items already in the storecupboard, until payday at the end of April. I have also had to make debt arrangements with British Gas and my telephone/internet provider because I cannot afford to pay those bills immediately.

 

I found my bank statement today (one of the kids had put it on top of a bookcase) and guess what? My £200 cheque was cashed ... granted three weeks after I posted it .... but it was cashed!!! The brass neck of the man - he even phoned his office who confirmed that the cheque had not been received

 

So - not only did this Bailiff act unlawfully, as I was not in arrears with my repayments, they have also taken an extra £200 from me.

 

What can I do about this? I really want to take this as far as I can!!

[kia]

i thought they could only take what was on the list i would be interested to the outcome of this too as im in similar postion only difference being that we havent paid the baliffs we paid it direct to the council to which we havent heard a thing back yet havent they got to inform their going to come round first too before they do u got me real nervous now xxkia

[casbah]

Molly

The first thing you should do is complain to your council, I take it you are in england?, Copy the bailiffs letters AND the bank statment. Send a copy to the bailiffs.

Now, have you got your work cut out for you!!! somewhere on here is a posting that says " if you have paid your council tax by credit/debit card AND PAID A % SURCHARGE" then you can claim the whole lot back. Check with your friend to see if there was a surcharge, its usually 2 or 3 %.

I know I asked some thing about this surcharge and if I can work out to paste in here I will do it for you.

Argue that you have no control over the postal service, but more importantly, that for all you know the bailiff had your cheque for 19 days and it is up to them to employ staff that are suitable for their job.

I had a run in with my bailiffs a few years ago, I had supposedly defaulted on an agreement and they came in guns blazing, turned out that the office junior had credited the wrong account!!!! Poor little office jnr always gets the blame. I told the bailiff to train his staff better. This was before I'd heard of this site, and now I am going for the whole lot back, (charges I mean)

Cas

[Guest Molly1965]

Hi Cas

 

That is fantastic! The friend concerned is dropping in today so I will check with him about the surcharge and, if he paid one, will be on here searching for that thread all night if necessary 8)

 

I've got all of my bank statements together which clearly show that payments have ben made for each month - they have cleared late on each occasion so I can only assume that these crooks hang on to cheque payments deliberately so that they can manufacture an excuse to storm in.

 

I've already written to the Recoveries Officer at the Council and to the Complaints Manager at Phoenix themselves, although I am holding the letters until I find out if the two Bailiffs concerned are certified or not.

 

When they arrived last week I was so shaken that I really didn't handle it properly at all - that's how they work I guess... but now I am so angry that I am determined not to let them get away with this I'm lucky in that I know how to find sites like this online, but how many others suffer unjustly and have no idea where to go for help and advice?

 

Thanks so much for the advice - I'll let you know how I get on

 

Molly xx